File folder management system

ABSTRACT

A file folder management system comprising means for releasably attaching file folders to one another.

FIELD

This invention relates to management of file folder systems.

BACKGROUND

There is often a need for file folders to be used for storage as well aswork-in-progress usage, which require the folders to be removed from thefile cabinet and transported. Current common filing and paper managementsystems do not meet the needs of the end-user well for transferringseveral file folders at a time. Some focus on storage while others focuson portable work-in-progress usage. Examples of master file managementsystems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,450 (De Safey), andCanadian Patent No. 2,052,512 (Snowden) which discloses linking adjacentfile folders at the outer edge. It is also known to link adjacent filefolders using magnets or mating hook and loop fasteners. With all theseapproaches, however, there is still an unacceptable risk of the foldersslipping apart and the files falling out and becoming unorganized, orthe approaches are overly difficult to use.

There is therefore a need for a master file management system with whichfiles can easily and conveniently be transferred without the risk ofdisorganization.

SUMMARY

The invention is a file management system that serves the purpose oflong-term storage and a portable work-in-progress usage.

In brief summary, a file folder of the invention comprises a first sidepanel having outer and inner edges; a second side panel having outer andinner edges; a binding edge interposed between said inner edges of saidfirst and second side panels for coupling said first and second sidepanels; and two linking members arranged on the outside surface of atleast one of said side panels, said linking members being adapted toreleasably interlock with another similarly equipped file folder, eachof said interlocking members comprising at least two ribs that extendsubstantially perpendicularly to said binding edge.

The invention also provides a master file folder system comprising twoor more such file folders releasably linked together via such linkingmembers.

The invention also provides a kit for adapting file folders for use inor as a master file management system of the invention.

The invention thus provides a convenient means for managing a set offile folders, permitting them to releasably linked together and thenseparated as desired for storage, transport, and use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

The invention will be further described with reference to the followingidealized drawings which are not to scale.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the outside of an illustrative file folder ofthe invention in open configuration;

FIG. 2 is a side view of two file folders of the invention in closedconfiguration and arranged in preparation to be linked together;

FIG. 3 is a perspective broken view of an illustrative linking member ofa file folder of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the linking member of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 5 a-5 d schematically show portions of a different illustrativelinking member of a file folder of the invention as it is interengagedwith an illustrative hanger of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of an illustrative embodiment of a rib useful insome linking members and hangers of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

A illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a file folder 10 of the invention,comprises a first side panel 12 having outer 14 and inner edges 16; asecond side panel 18 having outer 20 and inner edges 22; a binding edge24 interposed between the inner edges of the first and second sidepanels for coupling the first and second side panels; and linkingmembers 26 a and 26 b on side panel 12 arranged in parallel to sides 11a and 11 b, respectively, and linking members 27 a and 27 b on sidepanel 18 arranged in parallel to sides 13 a and 13 b, respectively. Eachlinking member comprises two or more ribs 30 arranged substantiallyparallel to the longitudinal axis of the linking member. File folder 10further comprises optional tab 32 on outer edge 14.

File folders of the invention can be any known suitable material, e.g.,plastic, paper, pasteboard, cardboard, or metal. They can be made in anydesired size, e.g., letter size, legal size, A4, etc., dependent inlarge part upon the file cabinets and other file storage devices whichare being used. The side panels may be flexible or rigid as desired.

The binding edge 24 may consist of a single fold, or in the case oflarger capacity files, multiple folds, as is known in the art of filefolders. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a file folder with a two fold bindingedge. In some embodiments, binder edge 24 may be a reinforced region ormade of a different material than are side panel 12 and side panel 18.If desired, side panel 12 and side panel 18 may each be made ofdifferent materials.

In a preferred embodiment, the linking member comprises a multiplicityof parallel, narrowly spaced, elastically deformable ribs projectingfrom a base sheet; the ribs comprising a stem portion attached to andsubstantially upright from the base sheet and at least one flangeattached to each side of the stem portion and spaced from the basesheet; the cross-sectional profile formed by the ribs beingsubstantially uniform over the length of the ribs. Similar structuresare disclosed as self-mating, reclosable fasteners in U.S. Pat. No.6,367,128 (Galkiewicz et al.) which is incorporated herein in itsentirety.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, an illustrative linking member of theinvention 26 comprises a multiplicity of ribs 30 attached to andprojecting upwardly from the base sheet 32. The ribs 30 are parallel toone another and equally spaced apart a transverse distance 34. Each ribcomprises a stem portion 36 and a flange 38.

Typically, the linking member will comprise a layer of adhesive 40 tosecure the linking member to the file folder as desired. A suitableadhesive may be readily selected dependent upon the nature of thelinking member, nature of the file folder, desired method of attachingthe linking member to the file folder, and whether permanent ortemporary mounting is desired. Illustrative examples of suitableadhesives include pressure-sensitive adhesives, hot melt adhesives,repositionable adhesives, etc. The linking member may be attached to theside panel by other means (not shown) if desired, e.g., mechanical meanssuch as sewing or stapling through the base sheet 32.

The ribs 30 are often substantially continuous over their full length.The ribs may extend to the end of the lining member or there may be astop at the end. Stops can be formed by cutting after extrusion andoptionally then stretching the base sheet to form a space between theadjacent ends of the interrupted ribs of what will be separate linkingmembers. In addition, interruptions prepared by pressure on an extrudedweb, for example, with a hot wheel, can make the base sheet thicker inthe area of the interruption (thickened with the material of the ribswhich has flowed under pressure of the hot wheel). These thickenedregions may be useful to provide a barrier to relative sliding movementbetween mating linking members, as discussed further below. FIG. 3illustrates stops 49 formed by thickened portions of the base sheet 32and disrupted ribs 46 such as can be formed by cutting with a hot knife.

Deformations of the rib structure, such as caused by periodic contact ofthe ribbed surface of an extruded web with projections from a hot wheel,to make stops at the ends of the linking members are useful to preventvertical slippage of mating linking members that might otherwise resultin separation of mated file folders. One such deformation structure isin the form of a dam, e.g., in the form of a raised portion of the basesheet. Such dams can be conveniently formed by contact of the ribbedsurface of an extruded web with projections on a heated wheel, wherebylongitudinally spaced portions of the ribbed structure are periodicallypressed down and accumulate as a raised structure or dam. The dam has agreater height or thickness than the base sheet. The height of the damis sufficient that when the linking member is mated with the linkingmember on another file folder, at least the tallest ribs of the otherlinking member will engage the dam and impede relative sliding movementof the two interengaged linking members. Typically it will be preferredto place a stop at each of the linking members. Instead of a dam takingthe form of structure raised above the base sheet, rib deformations suchas widening of the rib by pressing upper portions of the rib toward, butnot all the way into contact with, the base sheet may be used.

In some embodiments, the height of the ribs will be substantiallyuniform and in other embodiments, the ribs will be of alternating highand low height.

FIGS. 5 a-5 d schematically illustrate an illustrative linking member ofthe invention 53 (e.g., on a first file folder (not shown)), and show itundergoing interengagement with a linking member 52 having similar ribconstruction (e.g., on a second file folder (not shown)). The linkingmember 53 includes ribs of different height, with tall ribs 54alternating one-by-one with shorter ribs 55. This repeated deviationfrom the profile of a full population of identical (e.g., equally tall)symmetrical ribs facilitates a lower-force interengagement of the matinglinking members. As shown in FIG. 5 a, the taller ribs 54 contact oneanother first during interengagement of the linking members; and asshown by the arrow 56, the heads of the taller ribs tend to move intothe gap caused by the shortness of the adjacent ribs 55. Thisself-aligning of the ribs and attached members helps assure an easy andeffective interengagement when linking two file folders together. Uponfurther pressure on the member, as shown in FIGS. 5 b and 5 c, thetaller ribs are directed by their contact with the adjacent shorter ribs(see the arrow 57 of FIG. 5 b) into a position where the right flange 59of a tall rib 54 of one linking member slides under the left flange 60of a tall rib 54 of the other linking member (“right” and “left” in thisparagraph refer to positions in FIG. 5 c). Upon further pressure, asshown in FIG. 5 d, the left flange 61 of a tall rib 54 of one linkingmember moves under the right flange 62 of a short rib 55 of the otherlinking member. The described movement of the head portion of the tallribs 54 during interengagement occurs unimpeded because there is nostructure of equal height adjacent the tall ribs. The lowest-forceinterengagement is obtained when tall and short ribs alternate with oneanother one-by-one; but still-desirable, somewhat higher,interengagement forces can be obtained if a lesser ratio of short ribsis used so that some tall ribs are adjacent to one another.

A further desirable performance characteristic of the linking membersillustrated in FIGS. 5 a-5 d is that the force required to achieveinterengagement is of a serial or two-stage nature. That is, a firstexercise of force is required to achieve the first stage ofinterengagement illustrated in FIGS. 5 b and 5 c, and a second,subsequent exercise of force is required to achieve the fullinterengagement illustrated in FIG. 5 d. Because of this serial ortwo-stage exercise of force, the maximum force required at any one timeis reduced and interengagement is made easier. Also, a linking memberpair of this type may have two different degrees of interengagement,allowing one lower-force, perhaps temporary interengagement, and ahigher-force, perhaps more lasting interengagement.

The difference in height between the tall rib 54 and short rib 55 mayvary, but typically should not be so great as to prevent a significantnumber of tall and short ribs from having complete engagement, i.e.,engagement involving the illustrated movement of the flanges of the tallribs on one linking member underneath the short ribs of the opposedmember of the pair. The desired ratio of rib heights will be affected bya number of parameters such as material and thickness of the ribportions and shape of the ribs. Typically, the taller ribs will be aboutone-fourth to three-fourths again taller than the shorter ribs. Withsome embodiments of the invention tall ribs on the order ofone-and-one-half times the height of the short ribs has achievedpreferred results.

The rib in FIG. 6 is a representative coextruded rib, which in this caseincludes two different materials, one constituting the principal portionof the rib and the other constituting a top portion of the rib. Morethan two materials may be extruded and may constitute different portionsof a rib or base sheet. For example, the base sheet might comprise onematerial, e.g., for flexibility or suppleness, and the ribs comprise adifferent material, e.g., a stiffer material. Or the stem portion of arib may comprise one material, e.g., having flexibility, elasticity, orfatigue-resistant properties desired for repeated flexing, and the headportion, i.e., the top portion of the rib including the flanges, maycomprise a different material, e.g., a stiffer, non-flexing material.

As illustrated in the drawings, the height of a stem portion ispreferably greater than the width of a flange attached to the stemportion. The result (assuming the same thickness and composition forstem and flange) is that the stem portion will tend to flex inpreference to flexure of the flanges under the pressure placed on theribs during interengagement with the ribs of an opposed linking member.Bending stiffness is generally proportional to W(T/L)³ for a long beamof length L, width W, and thickness T, when bending occurs in thethickness direction. Because the stem is typically longer than the arms,flexing occurs more easily in the stem if the flanges and stem havesimilar thicknesses and composition. The ease of flexing in both stemand flanges can be controlled by choice of structure, dimensions andmodulus of elasticity of the material of the stem and of the flanges.

As discussed above, the stem and flange portions of linking members ofthe invention are typically preferably flexible so that they can bedeformed to facilitate linking and unlinking adjacent file folders. Itwill be understood that they can be made of relatively rigid, inflexiblematerial if desired, but that linking and unlinking such folders will beless convenient and may require sliding the linking members of adjacentfolders through their ends to link and unlink the folders.

As mentioned above, the side panels of file folders of the invention maybe flexible or rigid as desired. To facilitate linking adjacent folderstogether and the security of the linkage, it is typically preferred thatthe side panels on which the linking members are located do not flex orbend significantly. In some embodiments, it will be preferred toconstruct the linking members such that the linking member issubstantially dimensionally stable in its longitudinal axis. Forexample, with reference to FIG. 4, the base sheet 32 might be made froma dimensionally stable, relatively inflexible material and ribs 30 aremade from a different, more flexible material. In some embodiments,desired inflexibility might be achieved by incorporating a stiffeningreinforcement material (not shown) into base sheet 32 or between basesheet 32 and the side panel to which the linking member is attached. Inother embodiments, desired stiffness may be achieved by making basesheet 32 thicker.

Linking members of the invention may be made from a variety of materialsbut most commonly are made from polymeric materials, using generally anypolymer that can be melt processed. Homopolymers, copolymers and blendsof polymers are useful, and may contain a variety of additives.Inorganic materials such as metals may also be used. The composition ischosen to provide desired bending characteristics, including usually anelastic bending movement of the stem of the rib in a direction lateralto the length of the rib and little if any bending of the flanges duringengagement and disengagement. Generally a modulus of from 10³ MPa to 10⁷MPa for the composition of the base sheet and ribs including anyadditives is satisfactory but this may change depending on theapplication.

Suitable thermoplastic polymers include, for example, polyolefins suchas polypropylene or polyethylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers, acrylate-modifiedethylene vinyl acetate polymers, ethylene acrylic acid copolymers,nylon, polyvinylchloride, and engineering polymers such as polyketonesor polymethylpentanes. Elastomers include, for example, natural orsynthetic rubber, styrene block copolymers containing isoprene,butadiene, or ethylene (butylene) blocks, metallocene-catalyzedpolyolefins, polyurethanes, and polydiorganosiloxanes. Mixtures of thepolymers and/or elastomers may also be used.

Suitable additives include, for example, plasticizers, tackifiers,fillers, colorants, ultraviolet light stabilizers, antioxidants,processing aids (urethanes, silicones, fluoropolymers, etc.),low-coefficient-of-friction materials (silicones), conductive fillers togive the linking member and tab member each a level of conductivity,pigments, and combinations thereof, as desired. Generally, additives canbe present in amounts up to 50 percent by weight of the compositiondepending on the application.

Linking members of the invention can be formed by extruding a polymericweb through a die having an opening cut, for example, by electrondischarge machining.

The shape of the die is designed to generate a web with a desiredcross-sectional shape or profile. The web is generally quenched afterleaving the die by pulling it through a quenching material such aswater. A wetting agent may be required in the quenching medium to assuregood wetting of the whole surface of the extruded web, including spacesbetween ribs. The extruded web may be further processed, e.g., bycutting extruded ribs and stretching the web to form interruptions inthe ribs or by forming structure to limit relative movement betweenpaired linking members. Linking members are then formed, generally bycutting and slitting the extruded web.

Extrusion is strongly preferred; but instead of extruding, linkingmembers of the invention can be prepared in other ways, for example, byinjection molding or casting. Also, ribbed linking member structure ofthe invention can be incorporated into a larger sheet from which a filefolder of the invention is made.

As previously stated, the body of a ribbed structure of the inventionmay include multiple layers, generally of different composition. Suchmultiple layers can be provided by coextrusion techniques (as described,for example, in published PCT Appln. No. WO b 99/17630, published Apr.15, 1999), which may involve passing different melt streams fromdifferent extruders into a multiple-manifold die or a multiple-layerfeed block and a film die. The individual streams merge in the feedblock and enter the die as a layered stack that flows out into layeredsheets as the material leaves the die. The die is patterned so as toform the ribbed configuration of the linking member and tab member. Alinking member of the invention thus may have a base sheet of onecomposition and ribs of a different composition. Or a portion of theribs, e.g., the top edge-portion of the rib as shown in FIG. 6, may havea different composition from other portions of the rib. For example, thetop portion of the rib may include a composition that forms alower-friction surface than the rest of the rib.

The ribbed nature of linking members of the invention provides a desiredalignment feature to the articles.

It will be understood that the present invention may be used with filefolders having no tab or different index tabs and with hanging filefolders as well.

In some embodiments, file folders of the invention may further comprisehook and look fasteners or magnets for added security when the filefolders are releasably linked together in accordance with the invention.

The invention also provides a kit for adapting file folders for use asor in a master file management system of the invention. Such kitscomprise 1) at least one linking member comprising a multiplicity ofparallel, narrowly spaced, elastically deformable ribs projecting from abase sheet; the ribs comprising a stem portion attached to andsubstantially upright from the base sheet and at least one flangeattached to each side of the stem portion and spaced from the basesheet; the cross-sectional profile formed by the ribs beingsubstantially uniform over the length of the ribs and 2) means forattaching the linking member to the surface of a file folder.Illustrative examples include adhesives, e.g., hot melt orpressure-sensitive adhesives, and mechanical connectors such as staplesor clasps. Typically it will be preferred to place two linking memberson each side panel of a file folder that is to be releasably linked withan adjacent file folder in master file management systems of theinvention.

1. A file folder, comprising: a first side panel having outer and inneredges; a second side panel having outer and inner edges; a binding edgeinterposed between said inner edges of said first and second side panelsfor coupling said first and second side panels; and two linking membersarranged on the outside surface of at least one of said side panels,said linking members being adapted to interlock with another similarlyequipped file folder, each of said interlocking members comprising atleast two ribs that extend substantially perpendicularly to said bindingedge.
 2. The file folder of claim 1 wherein said linking members arearranged substantially parallel to the lateral edges of said side panel.3. The file folder of claim 1 wherein said linking members extend alongthe majority of the distance between said binding edge and the outeredge of said side panel.
 4. A master file system comprising at a firstfile folder of claim 1 and a second file folder of claim 1 wherein atleast one linking member on said first file folder is releasably engagedwith a linking member on said second file folder.
 5. A kit for adaptingfile folders to a master file system, said kit comprising 1) at leastone linking member comprising a multiplicity of parallel, narrowlyspaced, elastically deformable ribs projecting from a base sheet; theribs comprising a stem portion attached to and substantially uprightfrom the base sheet and at least one flange attached to each side of thestem portion and spaced from the base sheet; the cross-sectional profileformed by the ribs being substantially uniform over the length of theribs and 2) means for attaching said linking member to the surface of afile folder.